


Byrne's Story

by AitanaTheFangirl



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 14:10:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4749284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AitanaTheFangirl/pseuds/AitanaTheFangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Byrne's journey through his early life, serving the spirits, quitting, working for Malladus, etc.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Byrne's Story

He was young when he started working for the sage in the Tower of Spirits.   
At the tender age of 15, a boy by the name of Byrne was chosen by the Spirits to fight evil.  
Anjean, the sage, noticed he was very willing to work hard, and he did everything to the very best of abilities.  
Byrne never knew when he realized he gained powers. He gradually became stronger, a little thing here became easier, things didn’t bother him anymore as much as they used to. Soon, he was almost inhuman.  
He thrived off his new abilities when he found them. He wanted more. He wanted to do more.  
He worked harder than ever to improve all the time. He studied late into the night, he went to bed, woke up and studied more. For a while, improvements came.  
But soon, they didn’t anymore. And he noticed.  
He wasn’t granted any new powers.  
For a while, Byrne continued studying and working, but no more improvements came.  
He prayed to the Spirits, begging for more. “I know there’s more to me. I can become the most powerful servant you could ask for!”  
But, unable to intervene, the Spirits gave no reply.  
He was 19 when he started looking for other places to grow. He stumbled across the place in the Tower of Spirits where Malladus, the Demon King, was sealed. He heard whispers there. Whispers of powers greater than even he could imagine.  
“I can give you power…” the voice would say. “Power beyond your wildest dreams. Only if you help me return… You need only turn your back on the Spirits to serve me, one they could never hope to defeat.”   
Byrne left that Tower of Spirits that night, driven by powers greater than he could ever ask for. For volunteering to help the Demon King, a weapon was crafted for him: an arm made of steel to help in his fight against the Spirits. He met with a certain demon by the name of Cole.  
Cole, stationed at the palace, would find a vessel for the Demon King to inhabit with a young girl by the name of Princess Zelda, where the power of the goddesses of ancient Hyrule flowed freely in her. He would keep her away from the Tower of Spirits and keep her from knowing anything about his plans.  
While Cole bided his time, Zelda growing older, Byrne would craft a compass using the powers of the Spirits he had gained in their service, to figure out where they could find a locomotive of darkness, deep in the shadows of the dark realm. When they finally found it, Byrne would set about destroying critical segments of the Spirit Tracks keeping Malladus locked away.  
Everything was almost complete when things started happening. When Byrne was about 25, a boy came to the castle where Cole watched over the Princess.   
Somehow, the princess dragged the young boy, his train, and an older man to the Tower of Spirits. Byrne, sensing the Princess in the passenger car, a young blond-haired girl about 12, took out the tracks underneath them, the train stopping haphazardly. Cole… he said telepathically to the demon. We have company.   
Cole was there within seconds. “Out for a stroll, Your Highness? Tsk tsk… you know that’s not allowed!”  
“Under whose orders, Chancellor?” replied the Princess, ice in her voice.  
“Who else do you think is really in charge!?” Cole screeched, showing the princess his true demonic form. Byrne could help but notice the surprise, shock and distaste on the engineer boy’s face. He was about the princess’s height with thick blond hair. But he didn’t wear the engineer’s uniform… he wore that of a recruit at the castle. But the boy held no weapon.  
“My goodness, posing as a human is exhausting,” Cole continued. “I had wanted to keep up the ruse a bit longer, but you put me to this, Your Highness, and bringing in those two didn’t help either.”  
“What are you talking about, Cole?” the princess asked, her tone still icy.  
Cole sighed. “I’m talking about your infernal meddling! But in order to do what I needed to, I needed a little help from you, Your Highness,” he said, contempt in his high-pitched voice.  
Why can’t we just get the girl’s body and be done with? Byrne asked Cole telepathically.   
It’s diplomacy, my young friend. You get it someday. Cole replied.  
“Me?” the princess said, drawing back, her blue eyes filled with terror.  
Then the older man stepped in, he was Byrne’s height and in his late 60s: older for normal humans. His skin was also deeper in tone than Byrne’s, who was paler than snow. “I don’t know who these men are, Princess…” he said, respect in his tone for the younger girl. “But my family has served the crown for generations, and I will protect you at any cost,” he said, drawing a sword and throwing the sheath aside, performing a few double handed sword strokes.  
Cole sighed again. “Melodrama bores me. Byrne,” he said, “Dispose of this fool.”  
“He speaks the truth, Cole…” Byrne said. “He is clearly a master swordsman…” he paused, a smile creeping onto his face under his mask, unbeknownst to the others around him. “But he is only human.”  
A fight ensued, Byrne and his metal arm against the older man. His swordsmanship was masterful, for that of a human. The sound of the older man’s sword on Byrne’s metal arm rang through the air, the Princess watching, terrified for her own safety.  
“I told you…” Byrne’s opponent said through gritted teeth as his sword locked against Byrne’s arm. “I will protect the Princess at any cost!”  
“And I told you…” Byrne said, not breaking a sweat and pushing the older man over. “You are only human.” I left that behind a long time ago, he thought to himself.  
Byrne shoved the other man backward, recoiling, and his metal hand hit his sword for a final blow.   
“Oh Byrne, you do put on a good show!” Cole cheered.  
“It was hardly a fair fight, Cole,” Byrne shot back. There are courtesies to a fight, the likes of which YOU will never understand, he thought.   
The older man hit the train behind him with amazing force. Byrne rounded on the Princess. “Do something, Link,” She whispered to the engineer boy.  
The stupid child ran forward, protecting the Princess with his own body. How pathetic, Byrne thought. But there was something about him that Byrne nearly ignored. The boy reminded Byrne of himself from back in the day, when he was driven to help the Spirits at any cost.   
But that was a long time ago, Byrne thought to himself, shoving the boy aside with his normal hand, sending the boy flying 15 feet away.   
The others out of the way, Cole sent a ball of dark magic at the Princess. She screamed, falling to the ground. Her spirit, separated from its home, sailed off toward the castle.   
“Good work, Byrne!” Cole said.  
Byrne picked up the Princess’s body. It was surprisingly light. To think that this frail form would house the Demon King…  
He and Cole walked away, leaving the boy unconscious in the grass.


End file.
